1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer media connectors. More particularly, the present invention relates to multifunction media connectors that are configured to couple with multiple media plugs.
2. The Prior State of Related Art
Various communication systems are used to allow electronic devices, such as laptop computers, to communicate and exchange data and other types of information. For example, various networks, including Local Area Networks (LAN), Internet, Ethernet and conventional telephone networks, often link computers. These known communication systems, usually require the computer to be physically connected to telephone lines, modems or specialized wiring. Integration of LAN systems and modem telephone systems onto portable electronic devices, and more specifically onto a portable expansion card, allow a computer to provide a user with a communication outlet to the previously mentioned networks.
Portable expansion cards were developed when the industry recognized that standardization of peripheral devices would, among other things, greatly increase the demand for them. Exemplary portable expansion cards include solid-state interface cards, PC Cards, ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) cards, Compact Flash cards, SmartMedia cards, SSFDC (Solid State Floppy Disk Cards), or other miniature expansion card devices. Several manufacturers collaborated to form the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), which developed and promulgated standards for the physical design, dimensions, and electrical interface of portable expansion devices.
Specifically, the PCMCIA PC Card standard identifies three primary card types: Type I, II, and III. These PC Card types correspond to physical dimension restrictions of 85.6 mm (length)xc3x9754.0 mm (width) and height restrictions of up to 3.3 mm (Type I), 5.0 mm (Type II), and 10.5 mm (Type III). Now, many electronic devices being manufactured, especially those having a reduced size, are adapted to accommodate these standards. Laptop computers, in particular, are increasingly popular for both business and personal applications due in part to the development of PC Card peripheral devices designed to increase the functionality of the computers. As an example, PC cards are commonly used with portable and laptop computers to provide added features and/or functions. For instance, PC cards are often configured to function as memory cards, network interface cards (NIC), sound cards, modems, or other devices that supply add-on functionalty. Often, portable expansion cards such as network interface cards (NICs) or modem cards are used to allow or facilitate communication with an external system or device such as the Global Information Network or the public telephone network.
The ability to communicate with the external system, however, relies on connectors that provide an electrical connection between the portable expansion card and the external system. For example, the public telephone system is usually accessed through wall jacks that are designed to receive RJ series media plugs. Understandably, the connector of a modem card that is connecting with the public telephone system is also configured to receive RJ series media plugs. The physical shape of the connector can be varied to accommodate other types of plugs and to enable connections with different systems.
When the media plug is removably connected with the connector of the portable expansion card, an electrical connection is formed at this interface that permits the card to electrically communicate with the external system, which can be a network, the public telephone system, or the like. In one example, the card""s connector has an aperture formed in the body of the connector that is shaped and sized to removably receive a similarly shaped and sized media plug. As previously described, the aperture is often shaped and configured to receive RJ type media plugs. Contact pins, which are attached to the connector, extend freely into the aperture of the connector that receives the media plug. The media plug has contacts that are positioned on the media plug to come into contact with the contact pins when the media plug is inserted into the connector. The physical contact between the contact pins and the media plug contacts form the electrical connections through which the portable expansion card can communicate with the external system.
For a movable interface, such as a retractable connector, it should be appreciated that such interfaces that have two fixed bodies, such as (i) a printed circuit board associated with the portable expansion card and (ii) a media connector, which provides electrical continuity therebetween. One approach for providing such electrical continuity has been to use a flex circuit having electrical traces thereon. Flex circuits are flexible ribbon-like wiring harnesses that retain sufficient rigidity and flexibility during extension and retraction of the media connector in reference to the printed circuit board to sustain an enduring electrically conductive conduit. Attachment at the terminal ends of the flex circuit has heretofore been performed by either (i) solder-connections of the flex to fixed pads or post on the printed circuit board and media connector, or (ii) piercing electrically conductive posts on the printed circuit board and the media connector through conductive pad regions on the flex circuit thereby creating an electrical interconnect held largely in place by the stresses associated with the pierced and deformed flex circuit about the piercing post. Over time and frequently during initial assembly, such interfaces are unreliable and unaccommodating for reworking or repairing the electronic device. It would be an advancement in the art to provide a more accommodating and reliable interface between the flex circuit and the stationary components of the electronic device, such as between the media connector and the flex circuit.
An additional aspect to a media connector of further concern relates to the contact pins that physically interface with the media plug. It is important to ensure that the contact pins do not fracture, improperly bend, or otherwise malfunction in order to maintain an effective electrical connection. Because a media plug is repeatedly inserted and removed from a media connector, the contact pins are usually designed to flex within a prescribed range of motion and if the movement of the contact pins exceeds this limited range of motion, the contact pins may fracture or otherwise malfunction. Similarly, hindering the movement or flexibility of the contact pins can cause the contact pins to fracture or otherwise malfunction.
Another problem associated with the contact pins is the ability to properly position the contact pins within the media connector. Sometimes, one or more of the contact pins can be moved or shifted to a different position. This presents at least two problems. First, the misplaced contact pins can come into contact with other contact pins, which often results in an electrical short. Second, the misplaced contact pins may not come into contact with a corresponding contact of a media plug. In this instance, the electrical connection is not formed at the media connector and the card is not in electrical communication with the external system.
Further, when a media plug is inserted into a media connector, the contact pins bend and usually place separation forces on the other contact point in the media connector. Because these stresses may cause separation of the contact pins from the electrical contact pad points, a loss of the electrical connections and a number of different problems can occur. For example, if the contact pins do separate from the electrical contact pads, the signals cannot be transferred with the external network. Further, the user risks electrical damage to the contact pins or the media plug contacts when they move on the electrical contact pad surfaces. Previous attempts to fixably position the contact pins onto specific electrical contact pad points has irreparably damaged the connecting means between the media connector and the portable expansion card. Others have attempted a more costly approach by fixably soldering the individual contact pins to the electrical contact pad points, but over time the natural flex introduced by the insertion and removal of external media connectors breaks the solder joint, thereby reducing the overall reliability.
Additionally, a connector or socket is typically formed and configured to receive a specific type or size of a media plug. In order to facilitate various media plugs, multiple media connectors or sockets have been developed. Such a myriad of connectors on a device, however, consumes much of the available exposed end on the PC card or edge of the device. One problem with a typical RJ-type socket or connector, however, is that they are not designed to securely couple with both, for example, an RJ-11 series media plug and an RJ-45 series media plug. One of the reasons for this is that the RJ-11 series media plugs and the RJ-45 series media plugs are not the same dimensions. An RJ-11 media plug has six contact pin placements and the RJ-45 has eight contact pin placements. To accommodate the extra pin placements, the body of an RJ-45 media plug is wider than that of an RJ-11 media plug.
A socket that is configured to securely couple with an RJ-11 series is too narrow to receive the body of a RJ-45 series plug. In contrast, a socket that is configured to receive the body of a RJ-45 series plug is too wide to securely couple with a RJ-11 series plug. Accordingly, many electronic apparatus and associated peripheral computer card devices are configured to have at least two sockets or connectors, one to accommodate RJ-45 series plug for LAN connections and the other to accommodate RJ-11 series media plugs for modem connections.
As described above, the flexibility and reliability of connector contact pins is paramount. For example, it is not reliable to employ a traditional RJ-45 connector socket for use with both RJ-45 and RJ-11 media plugs because the RJ-11 media plug is comprised of molded shoulders located at the positions of the outer most two contact pins of the typical RJ-45 connector contact pin locations. Because of this high profile in the shoulder-corresponding pin locations, the contact pins in the connector socket of traditional RJ-45 connectors become overly deflected and fractured resulting in kinked and therefore unreliable contact pins in the outer most RJ-45 connector contact pin locations.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a multi-function connector or socket that facilitates the reception of both RJ-11 and RJ-45 media plugs without causing deleterious effects upon the contact pins of the media connector or socket.
The present invention has been developed in response to the current state of the art, and in particular, in response to these and other problems and needs that have not been fully or completely solved by currently available connectors. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a compressible contact between a media connector assembly and a flexible circuit. Electrical contact is made via the flex circuit through conductive contact pins associated with an RJ or modular type socket and plug. Two plastic posts are molded into a platform of the media connector assembly to align with the flex circuit, which has opposing holes, and is inserted over the tops of the posts. This alignment creates a positive stop and lock for the flex circuit increasing the reliability and reducing the production technology needed for alignment thereby reducing the production cost. The contacts pins are seated directly over the electrical contact pads of the flex circuit and a top xe2x80x9ccapxe2x80x9d cover is pressed onto the media connector assembly. Molded locking features on the media connector assembly secure the entire system including the cover, the contact pins, the flex circuit, and the platform. Thus, one strategic advantage to this invention is the development of a connector assembly system, which does not require specialized soldering or other unique processing equipment and lends itself to automated assembly and rework.
In one embodiment, assembly of the media connector includes a cover which is locked into place causing the contact pins to properly align via a specially designed arch in the platform and compressed against the electrical contact pads. The arch has guide fins that position, isolate, and flexibly limit the contact pins of a media connector assembly. The natural flexibility of the contact pins caused by an inserted media plug is limited by the arch to prevent breakage of the contact pins and the contact pins are isolated to ensure that a proper electrical connection is established. In addition to connecting the media connector assembly to a portable expansion card, the flexible circuit also provides a protective element to the contacts of the media connector assembly, such that the electrical connections formed by the union of a media plug and a media connector are protected and insulated. This is accomplished with a shield that extends from the media connector to protect and insulate the electrical connection between the media connector and the media plug.
In one preferred configuration, the media connector includes an arch disposed within the body of the media connector. The contact pins of the media connector that electrically touch the contacts of the media plug extend over the arch and into an aperture of the media connector. The arch includes guide ribs that ensure that the contact pins do not touch each other and that the contact pins are properly positioned.
Another related configuration provides a shield positioned beneath the arch with respect to the contact pins, the shield extends out from the body of the media connector beneath the contact pins. The shield is made of a relatively stiff material that does not become misshaped during use. The stiffness of the shield ensures that the electrical connection between the media connector and the media plug will be covered and that the shield will not fall away from the electrical connection. In effect, the stiffness of the shield ensures that the shield will exert a slight pressure against the contact pins without interfering with their movement as the media plug is repeatedly inserted and removed from the media connector. The shield exits the media connector through an arch channel. The arch includes an arch exit channel shaped such that the shield will be flush with a surface of the media connector when the media connector is in a retracted position. In other words, because the shield exits the body of the media connector, the added thickness of the shield can potentially interfere with the retraction of the media connector. The arch exit channel permits the media connector to be easily retracted and extended by allowing the shield to move within the confines of the media connector during retraction. Because the shield is beneath the arch, the shield does not interfere with the mechanical and electrical operation of the contact pins, and as a result, the movement of the contact pins is not hindered by the shield and the contact pins are therefore less likely to fracture or otherwise malfunction. Also, the shape of the shield does not have to be altered in order to accommodate the contact pins because the shield and the contact pins are positioned on opposite sides of the arch.
The present invention also includes embodiments capable of multifunction connections with various dimensioned media plugs. The present invention includes a media connector assembly with an extended electrical contact capable of non-destructive deflection when various media plugs are placed therein that do not accommodate each contact pin within the media connector. The media connector includes a platform with an arched mid-portion for enlarging the radius of deflection of the contact pins such that the contact pins deflect when a media connector is placed therein at a position further from aperture receiving the media connector. The arch maintains curved support for the deflected contact pin and assists in the positive contact force applied by the contact pin to the contact of the media plug.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.